John Lee explains police actions

August 12, 2019

Secretary for Security John Lee：
If there is no attack on the Police, if there is no use of violence, of course there is no need for the Police to resort to the use of force. And I have mentioned repeatedly that there is a particular group of people who are now involved in a strong tendency of serious violence and the kind of acts that they have been doing are really very dangerous. 

Some of the actions they have taken and some of the instruments or weapons they have used can be deadly. You can see petrol bombs being thrown, you can see fires being set, you can see people being dragged out of the car because of opposite views. So this is sowing the seed of terror, which I think the Police must deal with, and I think in this context, we have to understand why the Police have to take the action that they needed to take.

They are trying to do their action with the minimum degree of injuries, that is why they have to use tear gas and that is to maintain a safe distance so that there is no large-scale confrontation, and the amount of force they use are non-lethal weapons. If you compare their gear, their equipment, with those overseas, then you will see that the kind of gear and the kind of weapons they use are relatively of a less degree of force, and the method they have been deploying has been taken into consideration of reducing the amount of injuries.

So stop the violence, do the protest in accordance with the law, as Hong Kong has been doing in the last 22 years, and then we can return to normal.

(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Secretary for Security John Lee today said the weapons Hong Kong Police use are of lesser force than those used by police overseas.

Speaking at a press conference in the afternoon, Mr Lee said Police are trying to carry out actions that cause the minimum degree of injuries, and that only non-lethal weapons have been used.

“That is why they have to use tear gas and that is to maintain a safe distance so that there is no large-scale confrontation, and the amount of force they use are non-lethal weapons.

“If you compare their gear, their equipment, with those overseas, then you will see that the kind of gear and the kind of weapons they use are relatively of a less degree of force."

He noted there is a particular group of people carrying out serious violent acts.

“You can see petrol bombs being thrown, you can see fires being set.

“This is sowing the seed of terror, which I think the Police must deal with, and I think in this context, we have to understand why the Police have to take the action that they needed to take.”

He called on people to protest lawfully so that Hong Kong can return to normal.